Virtualization is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device or network resources.
37
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6answers
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How secure are virtual machines really? False sense of security?
I was reading this CompTIA Security+ SYO-201 book, and the author Prowse claims that
Whichever VM you select, the VM cannot cross the software boundaries set in
place. For example, a virus might ...
33
votes
5answers
2k views
Is it safe to install malware in a VM
Is it safe to install malware in virtual machines? I would like to investigate malware, but I don't want to infect my own computer.
Can I install the malware in a VMWare VM, maybe even without ...
16
votes
4answers
4k views
Does a Virtual Machine stop malware from doing harm?
I would like to know if it is save for the host system of a virtual machine (VM - VirtualBox OSE in my case) to execute malware.
Can a virus break out and read or write data from the host system? ...
14
votes
5answers
607 views
Is a VM only as secure as its host?
Question
If one installs a VM with "high security" on a host machine with "low security", will the VM be only as secure as the machine it's installed on, or will the high-security aspects from the VM ...
12
votes
6answers
791 views
Securely building a local pentest lab in a VM
I'd like to set up OWASP WebGoat or a similar vulnerable web app in a VM (probably VirtualBox on Linux). For convenience's sake, I'd like to get it running on one of the primary machines I use (say, a ...
12
votes
5answers
536 views
Are there ways to protect the guest kernels at the hypervisor level?
Let's say I have a linux guest running in xen and I want xen to check the integrity of the guest kernel so that I know there aren't any rootkits, or similar, active.
Is there a way to accomplish this ...
11
votes
3answers
582 views
Can a hypervisor rootkit enable hardware-assisted virtualization when it has been disabled by the BIOS?
I was recently reading An Introduction to Hardware-Assisted Virtual Machine (HVM) Rootkits (PDF), and it wasn't entirely clear about the conditions under which the hypervisor rootkit can start ...
10
votes
8answers
4k views
How anonymous is my setup?
my friend and I are trying to make the most anonymous setup for a computer to do things across the internet without being known the location from which it came.
Our setup is as follows:
A windows ...
8
votes
4answers
533 views
Source code security
We have about 20 developers working in a heterogeneous environment, mostly using company laptops or desktops. We run Windows 7 on desktops/laptops and a mixture of Linux distros (Ubuntu/CentOS).
...
8
votes
2answers
409 views
Protection of Keys/Passwords on Virtual Hardware (XEN, KVM, VMWare, etc.)
Is there any reasonable way to secure data on virtual hardware? What I mean by "virtual hardware" is the various hosted systems that one can rent from various online hosters, that run on top of XEN, ...
7
votes
5answers
3k views
How to detect hosts running in virtual machines with nmap?
I have to determine if a given subnet has virtual hosts.
Are there any ideas about what switches to use?
7
votes
3answers
345 views
Virtualization as a layer of security for desktop computers?
Given the amount of 3rd party plugins required to browse the web, I've been compelled to virtualize my online habits to gain an additional layer of security.
There is of course some obvious ...
7
votes
1answer
264 views
How isolated are files on a VirtualBox virtual machine from the host filesystem?
When transferring ownership of a computer from one party to another, it's advisable to perform steps to clean out personal data from the hard drive. Depending on needs, the type of data, and/or level ...
7
votes
3answers
266 views
Is it appropriate to use haveged as a source of entropy on virtual machines?
While looking for solutions to entropy pool depletion on virtual machines, I came across an interesting project called haveged, which is based on the HAVEGE algorithm (HArdware Volatile Entropy ...
6
votes
6answers
496 views
Is it safe to use virtual machines when examining malware?
We want to study for the CEH program and have downloaded 12 DVDs that 6 DVDs are software key-loggers, Trojans, etc. that are all detected by antivirus. This prevents us from examining them and ...
6
votes
4answers
1k views
What do I need to configure, to make sure my software uses /dev/urandom?
When setting up a server, what configuration changes do I need to make sure that all of the software uses /dev/urandom instead of /dev/random?
Some servers don't have much entropy in the entropy pool ...
6
votes
4answers
554 views
if the hypervisor is hacked are all guests affected as well?
I'm guessing that all guests would be screwed, if the hypervisor is hacked. I found this article, but it seems to be more focused on privilege escalation of guests. I'm more interested to hear about ...
6
votes
2answers
685 views
Is BitLocker on a virtual machine still FIPS 140-2 compliant?
BitLocker can be used as a cryptographic module to fulfill FIPS 140-2 security level 1 compliance.
In a common setup, USB thumb drives can be used to unlock drives encrypted by BitLocker on startup.
...
6
votes
2answers
208 views
Segmenting Virtual Network Traffic
I have a basic to moderate understanding of VLAN's and their pros and cons as they relate to network segmentation but I'm wondering where to start as one moves into virtualized environments.
From a ...
5
votes
4answers
344 views
Would running VMs inside of VMs be a more secure way to study viruses, etc?
I was reading this post on SuperUser, and it made me wonder about security. I've read somewhere else that some viruses/malware/whatever CAN break outside of a VM... and then infect the host OS. BUT, ...
5
votes
5answers
373 views
VM hypervisior that doesn't leak that it's a VM to the guest?
I need a VM Hypervisor that will not leak to the guest that its in a VM. The guest should believe its on a full physical machine.
Apparently VirtualBox fails at this, along with Virtual PC and ...
5
votes
5answers
377 views
Is there a way to identify the host of a malicious VM from across the network?
Scenario:
Someone is attacking your network. However, they're not exactly using their machine to do it - they're using a VM running on their system. The VM's network adapter is configured in ...
5
votes
3answers
632 views
vt-d Virtualisation and Trusted Execution Technology
Being a long time VirtualBox user and having recently purchased a new laptop equipped with an intel i7 720QM I discovered that it supported vt-d.
In the meantime I've found out that vt-d comes with ...
5
votes
1answer
253 views
Setting up home lab with Snort and Vyatta - looking for resource recommendations or advice
I'm looking to turn a new desktop (Ubuntu 12.10-64bit) I built into a virtual home lab for testing and experimenting with various security things. The first setup I would like to try running is the ...
5
votes
1answer
150 views
How does virtualisation (IaaS) protect from CPU microcode updates and firmware changes?
Is it safe to assume that it's impossible for CPU Microcode updates and firmware updates to be initiated from a guest VM?
What software or hardware technologies protect my guest OS from altering or ...
5
votes
2answers
810 views
Breaking out of a strict linux sandbox running virtually under windows: do the linux-sandbox access control policies even matter?
I am developing an application which will run untrusted code. I have been designing it for linux, thinking that I can just run it in a virtual machine on windows when the need arises. The linux ...
4
votes
5answers
460 views
How will microvirtualisation change the security field, if at all?
I'm interested in what Bromium has been working on. I don't understand how this will affect computer security. Will this reduce the number of exploitable vulnerabilities in common operating systems? ...
4
votes
3answers
198 views
What are the security precautions taken to ensure a virtualized domain can't compromise its host
I recently started learning about xen and became more interested in visualization. I read a few whitepapers, did a search here, but couldn't find an answer. My guess is someone will link me to some ...
4
votes
4answers
345 views
Obtaining the IP address of a virtual machine to use Metasploit
I am beginning to learn Metasploit and, to play safe, am practicing it out on a virtual machine.
The target machine, which is a virtual machine, is under NATing. How do I access it/ connect to it- ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
Can a kernel exploit compromise an OpenVZ host?
as openvz runs a a lot of virtual servers.
i wonder how kernel-exploits could affect the whole system.
would it be possible to break out of a "virtual machine" with a kernel-exploit on openvz??? ...
4
votes
1answer
87 views
How to secure application VM?
This question is derived from my previous question on Isolating Web application where two approaches were recommended.
Apache Chroot Jail
Isolation through Virtualization
My question is if one of ...
4
votes
1answer
787 views
Physical machines not detected from a Backtrack VM
Some time back I asked about using metasploit on a virtual machine here. This question is a kind of 'part 2' of it.
My test bed set up consists of 3 physical machines: A, B and C. Each of them have ...
4
votes
2answers
337 views
Memory Dumping - Cause for concern in Virtualization?
Recently, I started exploring threats to Virtual machines in general. The first question that popped into my head was whether a host machine can dump its entire memory onto a file, and inspect the ...
3
votes
3answers
818 views
Is dual-booting an OS more or less secure than running a virtual machine?
I run two operating systems on two separate disk partitions on the same physical machine (a modern MacBook Pro). In order to isolate them from each other, I've taken the following steps:
Configured ...
3
votes
5answers
494 views
Building a Security Training Simulation environment
My university is keen to build a security training simulation environment/platform and it will be a good learning experience for students. I Googled around to find out how it is built, but I only ...
3
votes
1answer
84 views
Why guest's connections can pass host's firewall?
I've been wondering about this.
Assume a host with a strong firewall setup (for example only allowing port 80). That host has some virtual machines without firewall.
Why the connections made on ...
3
votes
2answers
268 views
Security Risks Involved in Deploying Win Server 2008 on a Linux host
The Question:
Are there any major security risks I should be concerned about, caused by installing Windows Server 2008 R2 onto a Linux Host in VirtualBox?
I run an Ubuntu box, with a fully-secured ...
3
votes
1answer
240 views
Is there a way to use multiple firewalls / antivirus for penetration testing?
I don't really know how to do either, but I was wondering if it was possible to have multiple firewalls / virus scanners installed at once, and use a 3rd party program to specify which one is running ...
3
votes
2answers
141 views
Firewall on a VM
I know I could use a software firewall on the guest to achieve a situation similar to this, but is there a way to emulate a firewall (protecting multiple Guests) between a host and guests on a ...
3
votes
1answer
268 views
Full Disk Encryption within a VM, how secure is it?
Just a quick query on basically how to secure a VM for a home computer for a number of uses (such as securing work related data in a good enough fashion whilst in its native environment).
I'm not ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
VirtualBox Pen Test Lab Setup
So i'm trying to set up a pen test lab in virtual box on my windows 7 host.
I have 3 guest OS's installed:
1.) BackTrack5
2.) Centos 5 Server/Snort (My Snortbox)
3.) Win XP (Unpatched)
I have 3 ...
3
votes
2answers
478 views
Can an unprivileged process in a hardware-virtualized system cause a `VMExit` without cooperation from the kernel?
For SVM or VT-x, the set of conditions which trigger a vmexit to the virtual machine monitor is pretty complex. Can an unprivileged process trigger any of these without assistance from the kernel? ...
3
votes
1answer
223 views
How do I use Windows 7 virtualization features to prevent transitive trust of admin credentials?
I am exploring using VMs to separate my administrative actions from standard user actions in Windows 7. The goal is to limit my risk and exposure when using "RunAs" to open an application or file ...
3
votes
3answers
202 views
Designing a Sandbox for Windows
I am thinking about the design for a sandbox, which is able to execute arbitrary unmodified, untrusted binaries. The goal is to implement an application
Unlike something like e.g. Google Chrome's ...
3
votes
3answers
310 views
Is vlan considered a security feature? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Why do people tell me not to use VLANs for security?
This topic came up in a discussion about network infrastructure, where a company had moved from separate physical ...
3
votes
1answer
172 views
How secure is to store encryption keys or SSH Keys on LPAR?
I want to store SSH keys (used to connect to some devices that have sensitive data) and the encryption/decryption keys of a database application. They will be inside a LPAR (logical partition) in our ...
3
votes
0answers
48 views
What are the tradeoffs in cost, effort, and value in moving a database server to a virtualized DMZ environment?
I am quite new to the DMZ concept and working on a project as part of my master thesis where Remote access is required for the Development environment. However, there is a functional requirement for ...
2
votes
4answers
769 views
Reboot to clean state daily, on Windows
I already know that this can be done on Linux, One can boot to a flash drive that is write protected. Live modify folders can be symlinked to to a swap partition, and this prevents viruses from being ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
what is virtual machine introspection?
I have seen it presented as a special security technique but it seems like it basically means automated security monitoring of your virtual environment. Is that the basic idea?
2
votes
2answers
174 views
How can I protect content distributed on a linux virtual machine?
What assets am I trying to protect?
An unofficial pre-alpha software prototype provided as a reproducible example for evaluation during the scientific peer-review process. The software will be ...
